Guantanamo Boy: a review

Perera, Anna. 2011. Guantanamo Boy. Chicago: Albert Whitman.

(first published in the UK, 2009)
Advance Reader Copy supplied by the publisher.  Due on shelves in August.

"We must remember that once we divide the world into good and bad, then we have to join one camp or the other, and, as you've found out, life's a bit more complex than that."

Funny (or not so funny) - in searching for related links, further information and other reviews on Guantanamo Boy, I actually found myself wondering (worrying?) if my every passing stop along the Internet seeking information related to Guantanamo Bay will be tracked by some government official in a cubicle somewhere.  Just the fact that such a thought crossed my mind, is an indication of the intense fear, distrust and paranoia that is gripping our world because of terrorism.  With that worldwide fear and paranoia as a backdrop for Guantanamo Boy, Anna Perera has crafted an entirely plausible story about a 15-year-old British boy, Khalid, from Rochdale, a large town in Greater Manchester, England.

Khalid is much like any other boy from his town, interested in good grades, his mates, soccer ("footy"), girls, and online gaming.  Though his family is Muslim, Khalid is a casual practitioner.  When his family visits Pakistan to assist an aunt, Khalid's father inexplicably disappears.  Khalid goes to check the address where his father was last seen, threading his way through a street protest enroute.  Unable to find his father, he returns to his aunt's home where he is later kidnapped in the late night hours,

Surely only his dad could be coming through the door without knocking this time of night?

But he's badly mistaken. Blocking the hallway is a gang of fierce-looking men dressed in dark shalwar kameez.  Black cloths wrapped around their heads.  Black gloves on their hands.  Two angry blue eyes, the rest brown, burn into Khalid as the figures move towards him like cartoon gangsters with square bodies.  Confused by the image, he staggers, bumping backwards into the wall.  Arms up to stop them getting nearer.  Too shocked and terrified to react as they shoulder him to the kitchen and close the door before pushing him to his knees and waving a gun at him as if he's a violent criminal.  Then vice-like hands clamp his mouth tight until they plaster it with duct tape.  No chance to wonder what the hell is going on, let alone scream out loud.

And so begins Khalid's descent into a frightening labyrinth of secret prisons, interrogation rooms, and finally Guantanamo Bay detention center.
A few lengthy passages are didactic in nature, but they are few in number. Khalid's unique perspective as a boy, a British citizen and non-practicing Muslim of Pakistani descent, offers a superb vantage point into the previously termed War on Terror. His sensibilities are Western, his concerns are adolescent, his perspective is that of  outsider - he has known discrimination in England, he is too Western for his Pakistani relatives, he has little in common with his fellow inmates.  Khalid is the perfect protagonist for this third-person narrative.

Heart-wrenching and frighteningly enlightening, Guantanmo Boy is not without bright spots - the power of small acts of kindness, the love of family, the virtue of forgiveness.  A thought-provoking read for teens and young adults.

Contains an Afterword by the founder and director, of Reprieve.
 Teacher's Guide

More reviews @
Finding Wonderland
guardian.co.uk

Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine, & a Miracle

As you can tell by the amount of nonfiction books I review, it is one of my favorite genres. This week, I am joining the ranks of other children's literature bloggers in participating in Nonfiction Monday. Each week is hosted by a different blog. You can check out all of today's reviews at Picture Book of the Day, today's host and the inspiration for Nonfiction Monday.

My contribution for the day is
Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle by Brian Dennis with Kirby Larson and Mary Nethery. Published in 2009 by Little Brown and Company.

Despite Major Brian Dennis' many duties, his many prolonged absences from his base in Iraq, and the US Marine's prohibition on the keeping of animals, Nubs - a small, thin, nearly earless dog, chose Major Dennis as his own, and nothing - not even a 70-mile journey across a snowy desert would keep him from his friend.

Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle is a third person account of the friendship between this Iraqi dog and a US Marine. The story is told chronologically, in simple text,

"The other pack dogs raced to greet the men. But the dog without ears cautiously approached Brian, who knelt down on one knee to meet him,"

using large font with occasional inset text boxes using quotes from Major Dennis' emails,

"From: Brian Dennis
Subject: Nubs
Date: November 2007
On our last trip north I was expecting to see Nubs again. I didn't. We didn't make it as for north as we did last trip, but I still thought I'd see him. I hope that crazy little dog is okay."

The text is primarily in white font on brightly colored pages or superimposed on photographs. Numerous photographs and several maps accompany the story. A note from Brian Dennis, now at home with Nubs in San Diego, completes the book.

Although its target audience is beginning readers, the language in Nubs still manages to be inspiring. Readers will root for the poor injured dog and rejoice at his eventual liberation from his harsh desert life. Nubs' story is one of friendship and loyalty. Nubs loyally follows Brian wherever he may lead, and Brian repays that loyalty with the help of his human friends and family. There are few bright spots in the Iraq War. This story is one of them.

Scat

Hiaasen, Carl. 2009. Scat. Read by Edward Asner. New York: Listening Library.



Scat is the latest of Carl Hiaasen's single-syllabled, adventure mysteries - following the very successful Hoot and Flush. As in his previous books, Florida's wildlife and wild places take center stage in this environmental mystery featuring the endangered Florida panther. The mystery begins when the stern Mrs. Starch takes her Biology class on a field trip to the Black Vine Swamp. One student, nicknamed "Smoke," had a run-in with Mrs. Starch a day earlier and fails to show up for the trip. A fire in the swamp forces the students to return immediately to school, but Mrs. Starch, who had driven her own car, never arrives back at the Truman School.

Teenagers, Nick and Marta, begin to unravel the tangled mystery, beginning with a video Nick filmed in the swamp.

Kidnapping? Arson? Theft? Environmental crime?

What exactly is going on in the Black Vine Swamp?

More than just an environmental mystery, Scat touches on the concept of crime (can it ever be justified?) and the Iraq War (Nick's father is stationed in Iraq). The mystery unfolds asynchronously and from varying perspectives, adding intrigue but making it a more difficult book for reluctant readers.


My library has this book classified as young adult (YA) fiction, but it's certainly appropriate for 5th grade and up.

I listened to the audio version. After my initial surprise at hearing the gruff, old voice of Ed Asner, I easily settled in to the story and his depiction of the characters. His voice is particularly effective in creating the voices of grizzled old Floridians, oil men, and law enforcement officers.

Better than my own recommendation, my teen-aged daughter enjoyed Scat and my "reluctant-reader" son read it for hours yesterday!